Officials: Langley Fire Was Deliberate

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE — The fire that destroyed the Langley Air Force Base library July 7 was deliberately set, Air Force investigators have determined.

The fire, which destroyed the library building, its nearly 90,000 books and the base linen exchange, caused more than $4 million in damage, officials said Tuesday. No one was injured in the five-hour blaze, which began around 10 p.m.

Officials would not provide further details on the arson or a possible motive, citing a criminal investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, or OSI.

"We know where the fire started and have the preliminaries on what started the fire," Langley Fire Chief Charlie Bowen said.

Bowen said the fire began in the linen exchange portion of the building, located at 64 Nealy Ave., and spread to the library. Both areas were closed when the fire broke out, base spokeswoman 1st Lt. Patricia Lang said.

A variety of conditions - burning paper, linens, and a nearly 20 mph crosswind - contributed to the intensity of the fire, which melted windows, collapsed the one-story building's roof, and drove out firefighters attempting to find the fire's source a mere 10 minutes after entering the burning building.

"Once you eliminate those, you start looking for the uncommon causes," Bowen said. Investigators collected materials and information at the site and sent them off for laboratory analysis, leading to the conclusion of arson.

The building will be demolished after all evidence is collected and a new building constructed, Bowen said.

Base leaders remain undecided about whether to establish another library, Lang said. Library officials continue to determine what would be required to do so.

Their task was made easier thanks to a fortuitous computer backup. The day after the fire, a class was to be held on how to retrieve information from the library's database. According to base spokeswoman Senior Airman Paula Kurtz, one of the librarians had made a copy of the database to take home that weekend in order to prepare for the class.

"They have the whole hands-on inventory," Kurtz said, "and who checked out what books."

Some of the material, Kurtz said, would be tough to replace, including early histories of flying at Langley. And the pure expense of certain reference works, such as editions of Jane's All the World's Aircraft, could preclude replacing Langley's entire collection.

"They may not be able to replace the exact volumes," Kurtz said, "but they will replace the information."

In the meantime, Peninsula libraries have opened their doors to Langley users. "Last night we had quite a few people in uniform who were looking for material that had been at Langley," said Carol Goodwin, a reference librarian at the Main Street Library in Newport News. Christopher Newport University librarian Cathy Doyle said Langley-based students of Saint Leo College were frequent visitors over the weekend.

OSI continues to work on leads to determine the arsonist's identity. Officials ask that anyone who witnessed the fire prior to the fire department's arrival call Special Agent Ron McCarter at 764-7971.